Apparatus for punching, printing and verifying data cards

ABSTRACT

A data card is moved incrementally through a punching station. A punch and die carrier at the station is mounted for movement incrementally in a path generally perpendicular to the path of movement of the card, to position punches and dies with respect to the card. Card reading apparatus part of which is attached to and adjacent to the punch carrier verifies the positions of punched openings. Means are provided for applying printed characters to the card simultaneously with punching, the printed characters being aligned with the punched openings.

United States Patent Davis [15] 3,684,164 1 Aug. 15, 1972 22 Filed:

[54] APPARATUS FOR PUNCHING,

PRINTING AND VERIFYING DATA CARDS [72] Inventor: Cecil J. Davis, West Chester, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Bridge Data Products, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa. 1

Aug. 5, 1970 211 Appl. No.: 61,195

[52] US. Cl. ..234/34, 83/560, 234/72,

[51] Int. Cl. ..B26f 1/04, G06k 1/02 [58] Field of Search ..234/18, 72, 73, 34, 130, 115, 234/118, 109, 114; 83/560 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,934,934 11/1933 Lorant ..234/72 X 7/1939 Fuller ..83/560 X 3,390,629 7/1968 Parenti et al ..234/130 UX 3,069,075 12/1962 Sallach ..234/34 3,092,309 6/1963 Banger et al ..234/34 X Primary Examiner-Frank T. Yost Attorney-Seidel, Gonda & Goldhammer 1 1 ABSTRACT A data card is moved incrementally through a punching station. A punch and die carrier at the station is mounted for movement incrementally in a path generally perpendicular to the path of movement of the card, to position punches and dies with respect to the card. Card reading apparatus part of which is attached to and adjacent to the punch carrier verifies the positions of punched openings. Means are pro- I vided for applying printed characters to the card simultaneously with punching, the printed characters being aligned with the punched openings.

16 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PA'TENTED AUS 15 1912 SHEET 1 0F 2 ATTOKNL KX APPARATUS FOR PUNCHING, PRINTING AND VERIFYING DATA CARDS This invention relates to apparatus for punching, printing and verifying data cards, and more particularly, to apparatus for simultaneously punching and printing data cards, and including means for verifying the accuracy of the punched data.

It has been discovered that cards of the sort used for data storage and retrieval can be punched by substantially fewer parts and subsequent lower cost by an apparatus wherein the card is fed incrementally in a first direction, the incremental movement of the card being equal to the spacing between successive adjacent columns; and effecting punching by means of punches and dies mounted on a punch carrier, incrementally movable in a direction at right angles to the direction of movement of the card. The incremental movement of the punch carrier corresponds to the spacing of adjacent openings in respective columns. Thus, the feeding of the card and the movement of the punch head establish respective coordinates for openings representing bits of information.

Prior known apparatus requires a punch, die, solenoid hammer, and solenoid linkage for each row of data. For example 18 of each of the foregoing elements would be needed to punch 18 rows of data. This apparatus accomplishes the same results using, three punches, three dies, three solenoid hammers, and three solenoid linkages. The user of fewer parts results in lower costs, lower maintenance and higher reliability.

Aligned with the path of movement of the punch head in the present apparatus, is a printing head, for

printing characters corresponding to the punch-coded information, simultaneously with punching.

Also associated with the punch head of the present apparatus if a fiber optic device for reading and verifying the punch-coded information, so that the accuracy of the punching operation is immediately scrutinized.

With the present apparatus, up to threeholes may be punched simultaneously in a given column on the data card. Thus, in one commonly used form of data card, wherein 18 positions are provided in each column, no more than six punching operations need be performed to complete the column. It should be noted that higher card rates can be achieved by increasing the number of punching elements from a minimum of one up to a maximum of nine. The specific embodiment illustrated herein uses 3.

In view of the foregoing, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel apparatus for punching, printing and verifying data cards to effect low costand high reliability through the use of fewer parts.

It is another object to provide an apparatus wherein punching and printing of the data cards are done simultaneously.

It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus wherein punched data on a data card is optically verified immediately after punching.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an apparatus wherein N/2 holes can be punched simultaneously. As many as N/2 punches and dies can be attached and utilized, where N is the number of rows that make up a card column. In the case of the IBM System/3 card, N=l8. In the case of the I-Iollerith card N=l 2.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an apparatus for punching, printing and verifying data cards, using a novel card feeder mechanism.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The foregoing and other objects are realized, in a presently preferred form of the invention, by an apparatus wherein means are provided for transporting a card to a punching station, and further means are provided for selectively advancing the card through the punching station in predetermined increments. A punch head and punches are provided at the punching station, and a punch carrier is coupled to the punch head and punches for selectively moving them in predetermined increments in a path generally perpendicular to the direction of movement of the card. The plurality of punches, in a presently preferred form, are disposed onthe punch carrier, and selectively simultaneously operated to punch up to three openings in a given column at a given time. In association with the punching station, there are provided a printing head, and reading and verifying apparatus for instantaneous error checking.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific fonns without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification 'as indicating the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of apparatus in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail view, also in perspective, showing a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein like numerals indicate like elements, there is seen in FIG. 1 an apparatus designated generally by the reference numeral 10 for punching, printing and verifying data cards.

The apparatus 10 includes a stacking station, designated generally by the reference numeral 12, and illustrated diagrammatically, for storing a quantity of data cards 14. A card feeder mechanism, designated generally by the reference numeral 16, is associated with the stacking station 12.

The apparatus 10 also includes a punching station, designated generally by the reference numeral 18, at which a punch head 20 and punch carrier 21 are located. A printing head, designated generally by the reference numeral 22, is located adjacent the punching station 18 and works in association with the punch head 20 and punch carrier 21 in a manner soon to be described. Card reading and verifying apparatus, designated generally by the reference numeral 24, is also located adjacent the punching station 18, and provides for verification of the data on a card 14 immediately after punching.

A stacking station, designated generally by the reference numeral 26, is positioned to receive punched and verified cards, such as the card indicated by the reference numeral 14' in FIG. 1, from the punching station 18.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the punching station 18 and card reading and verifying apparatus 24 are seen in greater detail. v

In the illustrated embodiment, the punch carrier 21 includes three sets of punches 28, 30, 32 cooperating with an elongated carrier member 34. The carrier member 34 supports a die 35 with three die holes aligned with punches 28, and 32. Carrier member 34 is slidably mounted on a fixed frame, not shown, for shifting in the direction of movement indicated by the arrows. A positioning unit 36, such as a stepping motor, coupled to the carrier member 34 by means of a rack 38 and pinion 40, shifts the carrier member 34 in predetermined increments in response to signals from a keyboard or programmed input, not shown, of the conventional keypunch type.

A bail 42 is fixed to the ram 44. The punches 28, 30 and 32 extend through slot 37 so that they and the carrier member 34 may be moved relative to bail 42. Thus,

shifting of the carrier member 34 in its path of motion results in a similar shifting of the remainder of the punches and dies. Suitable support means, not shown, are provided for the punch head 20, and accommodate such shifting movement of the carrier 34.

Actuation of the punches 28, 30 and 32 is accomplished by means of a ram member 44 slidable with the bail 42. Punch drive members 46, 48 and 50 may be interposed between the ram member 44 and the respective individual punches 28, 30 and 32. Bail 42 functions as restore lever for the punches 28, 30 and 32. Thus, it pulls the punches back to their initial prepunch position clear of the die holes.

The punch drive members 46, 48 and 50 are individually mounted on movable armatures, pivotable with respect to the bail 42. An armature 52, associated with the punch drive member 50, is best seen in FIG. 2. The punch drive members 46, 48 and 50 are each coupled to their respective armatures by elongated spring members, such as the spring member 54. A hold coil 56, disposed on an opposite side of the bail 42 from the punch drive members 46, 48 and 50, normally magnetically holds the punch drive members 46, 48 and 50 in retracted positions flush with the surface of the bail 42. In such positions, the punch drive members 46, 48 and 50 are out of alignment with the punches 28, 30 and 32. The punch drive members 46 and 48 are seen in their inoperative positions in FIG. 2. Member 50 is in its operative position.

Associated with each of the punch drive members is a punch selector solenoid. In FIG. 2, only the punch selector solenoid 58 associated with the punch drive member 50 is seen. Energization of the punch selector solenoid 58 is effective to buck out" a portion of the magnetic field produced by the hold coil 56. Thus, for example, energization of the punch selector solenoid 58 causes the punch drive member 50 to be released from the field of the hold coil 56. The bias of springs (not shown) associated with the punch drive member 50 causes projection of the punch drive member 50 into alignment with the punch 32. If the ram member 44 is now reciprocated, it applies a force to the punch 32 through drive 50 to effect punching. No such force is applied, however, to the punches 28 and 30.

The punch drive member 50 is returned to its inoperative position by means of a mechanism comprising a rotating cam 60 and a rocker cam 62. The rocker cam 62 engages the rotating cam 60 and the armature 52. The return mechanism would return the punch drive members 46 and 48 had they been extended.

The cam 60 rotates about an axis extending in a direction parallel to the direction of travel of the punch carrier 34. Similarly, the rocker cam 62 oscillates about an axis, provided by a shaft 64, extending parallel to the direction of motion of the punch carrier 34. The shaft 64 is affixed, by means not shown, to the punch head 20. The cam 60, it should be understood, is journaled in fixed portions, now shown, of the apparatus 10. A lobe 66 on the cam 60 causes rotation of the rocker cam 62 in the direction of the arrow of FIG. 2. Such rotation of the rocker cam 62 causes in turn rotation of the armature 52 in a counterclockwise direction. Rotation of the armature 52 causes the punch drive member 50 to be drawn to its inoperative position, flush with the surface of the bail 42. The field of the hold coil 56 retains the punch drive member 50 in such position, even when the rocker cam 62 permits the armature 52 to revert to its illustrated position. The foregoing description has reference to operation of the punch drive member 50. The other punch drive members, it should be understood, are operated in a like manner.

It is believed apparent that the punch head 20 shown in FIG. 2 is capable of simultaneously punching in three tiers on a data card 14. Assuming that an initial punch has been made in a given column, and that further punches are required in that column, the manner in which the further punches are made will now be described. Rotation of the pinion 40 causes translation of the rack 38 and carrier member 34 to position the punches 28, 30 and 32 in their next punching positions. Also, appropriate punch selector solenoids, such as the illustrated punch selector solenoid 58, are actuated to extend the appropriate punch drive numbers. Reciprocation of the ram member 44 then effects punching. Bail 42 restores the punches to their starting position.

The foregoing sequence of operations is performed until the required number of punches in a given column is made. With one currently used form of data card, as many as 18 openings may be required in a given column. With the present apparatus, such openings may be made in five steps of the positioning unit 36, in the above-described manner. There are six punching operations.

Actuation of the ram member 44 to effect punching may be accomplished by means of the above-mentioned cam 60. Suitable cam follower and linkage means, not shown, interconnect the cam 60 and ram member 44.

In the present apparatus 10, the presence of the punched openings is verified after each punching step. For this purpose, card reading and verifying apparatus 24 is provided.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the reading and verifying apparatus 24 includes a light source 68, associated with a light distributor 70. The light distributor 70 in the illustrated form of the apparatus includes eighteen data apertures, disposed in a row extending parallel to the columns of the data cards 14, and spaced by distances equal to the spacing of adjacent openings in respective columns.

Vertically aligned with the light distributor 70 is a light collector 74, having apertures 76 corresponding to and in alignment with the apertures 72. The apertures 72 and 76, it should be understood, are preferably light conducting fiber optic elements of the type known in the art. The apertures 76 associated with the light collector 74 are directed to a photocell read module 78.

Affixed to the carrier member 34 is a mask 80, including l8 apertures 82, 84 and 86, at positions aligned with the positions of the punches 28, 30 and 32 and hence with the positions of 3 of the apertures 72 and 76. This spacing also equals the center distance between card column spaces.

The manner in which verification is accomplished should now be apparent. After a column has been punched, (e.i. five steps of positioning unit 36), the card 14 is indexed into position for punching the next column. Its just-punched openings now lie in alignment with the apertures 82, 84 and 86. Light from the source 68 passes through the apertures 72 in the light collector 74, the apertures 82, 84 and 86 of the mask 80, the punched apertures in the card 14, and the apertures 76 in the light collector 74. The photocell read module, through a logic circuit of the known type, not illustrated, confirms that the openings actually made in the card 14 correspond to those required. The position of the stepping motor 36 tells the logic where the mask is positioned, e.g., step 1, step 2, etc., up to the five steps necessary to punch six columns in each tier. Thus,

reading of the column is accomplished simultaneously card 14. Thus, assuming a card 14 is in position for punching, and a particular symbol is selected for punching in the second tier, the print wheel 90 will rotate to a position wherein the character corresponding to the punched symbol is in a printing position. Print hammers 94, 96 and 98 are positioned beneath the print wheels 88, 90 and 92, and are normally located beneath the underside of a data card 14 and in opposition to the print wheels 88, 90 and 92. In the above example, the print hammer 96 is driven upwardly in a well known manner as punching is initiated. Thus, an alphanumeric character corresponding to the punched information is applied to the card. i

The print wheels 88, 90 and 92 are associated with a drive motor 100, and may be caused to rotate to their selected positions by any well known indexing means, not shown.

The drive motor 100 also provides a means for moving a data card incrementally through the punching station 18. For this purpose, the drive motor 102 is coupled to a pair of gripper wheels 102 and 104, operating in opposition to idler wheels of which one, numbered 106, is seen. As is indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 1, an edge of a data card 14 passes between the gripper wheels 102, 104, and the idler wheel 106 as the card is fed to the punching station 18. Incremental rotation of the drive motor 100 and gripper wheels 102 and 104, therefore, causes incremental (column to column) movement of the data card 14. Operation of the drive motor is synchronized with operation of the positioning unit 36 and punch head 20 by any conventional means. Such means will occur to those skilled in the art.

- The manner in which data cards 14 are fed from the stacking station 12 to the punching station 18 will now be described in detail.

At the stacking station 12 there is provided an input hopper, not shown, the lowest card 14 in the hopper rests on the upper surface of a flat constant force spring 108, which forms a part of the abovementioned feeder mechanism 16. A knife" 110, which may be formed of a struck-out portion of the spring 108, is engageable with a rear edge of the bottommost card in the input hopper. A forward portion of the'spring 108 is received over a roller 112. A feed solenoid engages a forward edge of the spring 108. Operation of the feed solenoid 114 causes movement of the spring 108 in the direction indicated by the arrow. When the spring 108 undergoes such movement, the knife 110 engaging the edge of the bottommost card 14, causes the card to advance to the punching station 18. As the card 14 advances to the punching station, one edge comes between the gripper wheels 102, 104 and the idler wheels 106, whereupon operation of the'drive motor 100 precisely controls its position with respect to the punch head 20.

The stacking station 26, for receiving finished cards, may take any suitable form. In the illustrated form, however, it includes a roller and a hold-down plate 118. The hold-down plate 118 is biased downwardly toward the roller 116 by a spring 120. The manner in which the stacking station 26 operates is believed apparent. Finished cards 14 are advanced by rotation of the gripper wheels 102 and 104 into contact with the roller 116. The roller advances the cards 14' into a stacking position, against a downwardly extending flange 122 associated with the hold-down plate. Successively finished cards 14 are added to the bottom of the stack. As the size of the stack increases, the holddown plate 118 rises against the bias of the spring. The stack builds as indicated in dotted lines at the left of FIG. 1.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from'the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

Iclaim:

1. Apparatus for punching data cards, comprising means for transporting a card to a punching station, means for selectively advancing said card through said punching station in a first direction in predetermined increments, at least one punch and die at said punching station, means coupled to said punch'and die for selectively moving them in predetermined increments and in a path generally perpendicular to said first direction to position said punch and die transversely with respect to a card for each punching operation, and a punch head including means for selectively operating individual punches to punch the card.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein two or more punches are disposed along a line extending parallel to said path at spaced intervals, to facilitate simultaneous punching along said line.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 wherein said means for selectively operating individual punches comprises a unitary punch actuator member, a punch drive member selectively movable between an inactive position and an operative position wherein it is interposed between said punch actuator member and the punch with which it is associated.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 including first solenoid means for normally holding said punch drive members in their inactive positions, and'selectively actuable selector solenoid means associated with individual punch drive members to facilitate movement of said punch drive members to their operative positions.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 4, wherein said punch actuator member comprises a ram member, means for driving said ram member, individual armature members supporting said punch drive members, means coupled to said cam member and said armature members for moving said punch drive members to their inactive positions.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein said punching station includes three punches, and said means for selectively moving said punches provides for movement of said punches in at least five increments.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, and a printing head adjacent said punch head, said printing head comprising alphanumeric character printing means.

8. Apparatus in accordance with claim 7, wherein said alphanumeric character printing means are disposed in said line parallel to said path.

9. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, and light actuated punch verifying means adjacent to said punch head for sensing the positions of holes punched in said card.

'10. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, and light actuated punch verifying means adjacent said punch head'for sensing the positions of holes punched in said card, said verifying means comprising a light source, a plurality of light conducting elements disposed in a row extending parallel to said path onone side of the card, and light collector and sensing means disposed on the other side of the card.

1 1. Apparatus in accordance with claim 10, and said light conducting elements being spaced at intervals corresponding to the positions of said punches as said punch head is incrementally moved.

12. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein said means for transporting a card to a punching station comprises a constant tension spring member, said spring member having an abutment thereon for engaging the bottom card of a stack, and means coupled to one end of said spring member for elongating said spring, said elongation causing said abutment to remove the card from the stack and propel the card toward punching station.

13. Apparatus for punching data cards, comprising means for transporting the card to a punching station, means for selectively advancing said card through said punching station in a first direction to predetermined increments, at least one punch and die at said punching station but no more than N/2 punches and dies at said punching station (where N is the number of rows that make up a column in a data card), means coupled to each punch and die for selectively moving them in predetermined increments and in a path enerall perpendicular to said first direction to posi ion eac said punch and die along the column of said card for each punching operation, and a punch head including means for selectively operating individual punches to punch the card.

14. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 wherein said punch head includes punch drive means, punch depressing means, and means for selectively interposing said punch drive means between said punches and said punch depressing means.

15. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 wherein said punch head means includes a punch drive means for each punch, and means for selectively interposing said punch drive means between said punch and a punch depressing means at a plurality of incremental positions of the punch and die with which said punch drive means is associated.

16. Apparatus in accordancewith claim 13 wherein said punch head includes punch drive means, a ram for depressing said punches, means for selectively inter- 

1. Apparatus for punching data cards, comprising means for transporting a card to a punching station, means for selectively advancing said card through said punching station in a first direction in predetermined increments, at least one punch and die at said punching station, means coupled to said punch and die for selectively moving them in predetermined increments and in a path generally perpendicular to said first direction to position said punch and die transversely with respect to a card for each punching operation, and a punch head including means for selectively operating individual punches to punch the card.
 2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein two or more punches are disposed along a line extending parallel to said path at spaced intervals, to facilitate simultaneous punching along said line.
 3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 wherein said means for selectively operating individual punches comprises a unitary punch actuator member, a punch drive member selectively movable between an inactive position and an operative position wherein it is interposed between said punch actuator member and the punch with which it is associated.
 4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 including first solenoid means for normally holding said punch drive members in their inactive positions, and selectively actuable selector solenoid means associated with individual punch drive members to facilitate movement of said punch drive members to their operative positions.
 5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 4, wherein said punch actuator member comprises a ram member, means for driving said ram member, individual armature members supporting said punch drive members, means coupled to said cam member and said armature members for moving said punch drive members to their inactive positions.
 6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein said punching station includes three punches, and said means for selectively moving said punches provides for movement of said punches in at least five increments.
 7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, and a printing head adjacent said punch head, said printing head comprising alphanumeric character printing means.
 8. Apparatus in accordance with claim 7, wherein said alphanumeric character printing means are disposed in said line parallel to said path.
 9. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, and light actuated punch verifying means adjacent to said punch head for sensing the positions of holes punched in said card.
 10. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, and light actuated punch verifying means adjacent said punch head for sensing the positions of holes punched in said card, said verifying means comprising a light source, a plurality of light conducting elements disposed in a row extending parallel to said path on one side of the card, and light collector and sensing means disposed on the other side of the card.
 11. Apparatus in accordance with claim 10, and said light conducting elements being spaced at intervals corresponding to the positions of said punches as said punch head is incrementally moved.
 12. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein said means for transporting a card to a punching station comprises a constant tension spring member, said spring member having an abutment thereon for engaging the bottom card of a stack, and means coupled to one end of said spring member for elongating said spring, said elongation causing said abutment to remove the card from the stack and propel the card toward punching station.
 13. Apparatus for punching data cards, comprising means for transporting the card to a punching station, means for selectively advancing said card through said punching station in a first direction to predetermined increments, at least one punch and die at said punching station but no more than N/2 punches and dies at said punching station (where N is the number of rows that make up a column in a data card), means coupled to each punch and die for selectively moving them in predetermined increments and in a path generally perpendicular to said first direction to position each said punch and die along the column of said card for each punching operation, and a punch head including means for selectively operating individual punches to punch the card.
 14. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 wherein said punch head includes punch drive means, punch depressing means, and means for selectively interposing said punch drive means between said punches and said punch depressing means.
 15. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 wherein said punch head means includes a punch drive means for each punch, and means for selectively interposing said punch drive means between said punch and a punch depressing means at a plurality of incremental positions of the punch and die with which said punch drive means is associated.
 16. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 wherein said punch head includes punch drive means, a ram for depressing said punches, means for selectively interposing said punch drive means between said punches and the ram for depressing said punches, means for restoring said punch drive means to their initial position, means for restoring said punches to their initial position, and a cam shaped to generate motion for said ram, said means for restoring said punches, and means for restoring said drive means. 